The thing I don't get here is... So far, nothing new. This has all been done before elsewhere. I'm astonished this isn't nicer looking or more interesting.

Jobs: "It's so much more intimate than a laptop." Yes, Steve. PC users have known that since 2002. Geesh.

OK, this has to be a joke. He can't really be this excited about this device. Maybe this will be a candid camera moment and all thus joyful faces in the audience will get an actual, happy, surprise. It's a joke. It's gotta be.

Right?

Did he just show an address book that ... looks .... like a book? Ahahahaha. Oh come on. Someone pinch me. It can't possibly be this lame.

But wait, there's more: Widescreen movies take up approximately half the space on the surface of the iPod because the aspect ratio of the device is way off. That just seems odd. This thing should be 16:9.

OK, stats.

It's half an inch thick. It weighs 1.5 pounds. It has a 9.7 inch display with full capacitive multitouch and accelerometer. All as expected.

The big question, of course, is the price. I'm guessing $999 to start.

But we have to wait. Because Scott "dark son" Forstall is out. To talk about apps.

It runs iPhone apps. Obviously. Stretches them out as you'd expect, if you want. (Apple calls this 2X. It's actually about 4X from what I can tell.)

This stuff is just boring. If Apple wanted this to be a game machine, they should have built hardware controls into that huge bezel.

New York Times apps looks just like the New York Times Reader app for the PC. Which, by the way, looks great on a Tablet PC. I wonder if there's a dedicated Kindle app at launch.

"This is just the beginning." By which he means, "of the apps demos." They're going to go on all day long.

Aside from price, the other big question is availability. I'm guessing not immediate. Using Apple history as a guide, I'd guess they will announce it for the end of February and devices will start shipping from China on February 27 or 28.

And am I missing something or does this not do handwriting recognition? You know, like the Windows Tablet PC software has since 2002?

The eBook reader stuff is another example of Apple mimicking real life objects unnecessarily. Creating a "library" page that looks like a real bookshelf and a book interface that visually resembles a book does not make this "easier to use" or "nicer." It makes it unprofessional looking, actually. Childish.

And don't get me started on the superiority of eInk over any screen display. It's no contest unless you're trying to fast track to bad vision.

It's called iBooks (of course). Uses ePub format, which makes sense.

And now iWork. A version of an app suite that no one uses designed for a device that no one should use for productivity. It's the ultimate win-win! (Schiller: Millions of customers love iWork. I really do doubt that. I'm not being snarky. It's just not possible.)

The sheer amount of time they're wasting on iWork is amazing.

I can almost hear Apple's stock price dropping every second this demo goes on.

$9.99 for each iWork app? LOL. Wow.

Some more from Steve...

Syncs over USB just like iPod/iPhone. Not OTA like Zune?

Networking. Here we go. All have 802.11n, but some models will have 3G (as in iPad 3G). Notes that $60 a month is norm for a data connection. Apple's pricing:

250 MB a month for $15

Unlimited data $30 a month

Doesn't seem too shabby. You know, if it's on Verizon.

It's on AT&T. (Wah-waah-waaaaaaaaaaaah)

Good news, though: No contract. It's month to month. Nice! International deals this summer, he says. The device is unlocked.

But the price, Steve. What is the price??

He's building up to it by listing out what it can do...

iPad pricing starts at $499.

That's actually quite aggressive for Apple. In fact, that's pretty amazing. So good for them.

Of course, that's for a paltry 16 GB of storage. The 64 GB version is $699.

The one you want--with a 3G connection and 64 GB--is a more Apple-esque $829.

60 days for non-3G models.

90 days for 3G.

That's worse than I expected.

They're talking accessories now. I think the real cost of one of these things will indeed be $999 when you think about it.

The Jonathan Ive videos are getting old, sorry. Not every gadget is "magic," sorry.

So.

Without being able to touch one ... eh. It seems like a high priced, unnecessary trinket to me. I like the idea of a video player. It's too expensive for that, and 64 GB should be the starting point, not the upper end. The pricing is aggressive for Apple. The 3G pricing seems good, actually. The interface is obvious, not really innovative.

Overall, this is a letdown. I'd be surprised to see anyone try to claim otherwise. And I'll be looking, of course. :)

Discuss this Article 290

Dude1313 said: "PRS- Easy isn't this a copy and past job from Paul from 2007?"
You do a good line in total gibberish. I can only wonder what insights you might have revealed had your groping for a faintly coherent sentence been successful.

@rog Andre why does this device, or any other device have to have a desktop OS shoved into it? People that think that have a very limited vision.
This will be sold to consumers, not IT people. Lets say I take a long flight, I may bring an iPod for music, magazine, book, maybe a DS or PSP, or iTouch/iPhone for games and then maybe a laptop to watch movies for 2-3 hours before the battery dies. Or just this device.

Ocean said: "Ballmer and his hardware partners just got a HUGE headache."
There he is again – like an attention-starved child dancing on the coffee table while the adults try to have a conversation. Ocean: You're being very silly; and it's past your bedtime.

Hmm...so I was gonna call this an epic fail, but it seems everybody else made that conclusion already.
If pricing for this isn't under $500, it's just another iFangrrl wallet-milking machine.
Also, 3G support is going to be a disappointment all around for US customers. You either have the AT&T Fail Network, or you have the better coverage of the obsolete CDMA system that Verizon offers that isn't compatible with the rest of the world. I'd place a bet that Apple offers it on AT&T, if any at all, just for the fact that the radio will be [more] compatible with worldwide markets than CDMA.
As far as the name, it's totally EPIC FAIL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1BUH9eXy18
LOL!
When someone talks about bleeding pu$$!3$, I'll think about Apple.

Man, I thought I was harsh on Apple, but Paul always calls it like it is. The fanboys won't be happy by this completely truthful look at it.
Come on guys, it is nothing but a big iPhone. If it was a full Mac, maybe, it would be worth something.
So this is less of what Microsoft introduced back in 2001 or 2002? Is Apple slipping?
iDud indeed.

And to think....
Last week, I was a click away from spending almost $300 for the small Kindle. Now, I am glad I waited. I'm going to get the 16GB for $500.
Now I just hope I don't have to wait until 2011 before I can hold one.
The only problem I can see now is AT&T.
I live in NYC and AT&T is horrible here. Jobs did mention something about how it can take a SIM card. Maybe I can go with T-Mobile instead. It's not as good as Verizon, but certainly better than AT&T. I think Apple would really help itself if it dumped the AT&T exclusive and opened itself up to more wireless carriers.

"It seems like a high priced, unnecessary trinket to me"
How is your Kindle iPaul? I take it off your hands for $99, if you have the DX version.
Kindle DX $489 vs iPad 16gig $499. Which does more? Which can hold more? Which does iPaul own.

A true Kindle Killer!
I have a strong feeling that iPaul will be among the first to own one :-)
And speaking of Kindle. I am not completely sure, but isn't there already an app to read Kindle docs on the iPhone and iTouch? If that's the case, then there is no reason to buy a Kindle, unless you like black and white screens.

I'm sorry I just don't see this device taking the place of a net book. They maybe ugly or whatever, but they run a complete OS so you can do whatever you want on them. This apple device again uses a stripped down OS version that has it's limitations and you will eventually need a computer to do task you can't on it. I think its a disappointment! Just a big iPod touch, atleast the HP Slate runs a complete OS not a stripped down version. and come on, no multitasking!!!!.....I would prefer to buy a new iPod and not this tablet .

"I am interested to hear other opinions of the Apple crowd...honest opinions, not fanboy rants."
Okay. I don't want one. I don't want a netbook, either, I'm quite happy with my Macbook Pro and my iPhone. That said, I really don't know how this will do in the market. If I really wanted something compact, feather light and was willing to put up with some compromises, I'd get a Macbook Air instead of an iPad.
It seems to me the logical people to want this gadget are the iPhone owners who do NOT have a Mac already....instead of getting an iPhone and a Mac, they can just get an iPad. How many people is that?? Dont' know...but there may be a lot of people who want what I get from my Macbook Pro without having to deal with a "computer".
It seems to me this is a typical Apple 1.0 release, like the 128K Mac, like the original iPhone, flawed in some ways, missing features, with some perplexing choices. I don't know if it defines a new product niche or not.
One things is now cleared up: We know why Apple bought PA Semiconductor. The A4 is what they've been doing. This may be the sleeper feature on this gadget; presumably the cpu is optimized for battery life and performance. However, this also puts Apple at some disadvantage in this new "tweener" category.....it isn't gonna run Windows or Windows Apps, so the audience will split into those who don't care about that and those who'll get a Windows netbook instead for just that reason.
One of the (very) few things Ballmer has said that I agree with is that many of the apps for the iPhone exist to make particular web pages more usable on a small screen. So, despite what Jobs said, the iPhone does not deliver the real internet, really more of the baby internet, simply because of screen real estate limitations. The iPad fixes that limitation and may----emphasis may---let the iPhone grow up into what it always should have been.
A Mac site (daringfireball) has this old quote from Alan Kay,
"Alan Kay, regarding his reaction to the iPhone in January 2007:
When the Mac first came out, Newsweek asked me what I [thought] of it. I said: Well, it’s the first personal computer worth criticizing. So at the end of the presentation, Steve came up to me and said: Is the iPhone worth criticizing? And I said: Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world."
So, we'll see....

I'm going to use my iPad as I ride my unicorn...bringing world peace in the name of Steve!!!!
I’m throwing out my 16 inch dual core graphics accelerated HP laptop I only paid $700 for... I don't think Apple’s profits are a result of obscene markups. Take all my money Apple I don't deserve it!!! I had no value as a person now, thanks to Apple, I’m cool because of my computer…I’m iCool…I was nothing before the iPad!!!
I'm so happy I just “Nanoed” in my pants !!! The iPad has saved my life!!!!

@brichter45 my only point about the Kindle, is Paul loves it, has bought more than one of then says the iPad is a "high priced, unnecessary trinket "
You dont see the hypocrisy in that?
The iPad is 100x more functional than any Kindle version. Maybe 140,000 x if you look at it from a "number of applications" view point.
The only question now is will Kindle just update their iPhone app to take full advantage of the iPad and kill off their device or will they keep making their device...after slashing the price???

Hahaha look at that thing, looks so unwieldy, then the part about how one can use it as an alarm clock a dvd/tv viewer in the living room that is why we have T.V. jobs, and even a cook book, but for that you would need 3 docks, hmm expensive, I would rather go with a PC or home server at the center with it hooked up to my alarm clock, tv, and a cheap lcd display for cook books, than carry that thing around. haha what a failure and no that isn't a tablet, tablets gets things done.

Given Paul's record on Apple predictions of success or failure(iPhone, cough cough!) I would say this will be pretty successful. It's far more capable, and usable than a netbook. I have yet to meet one that isn't painful to use for more than an hour. If there really isn't a camera in the bezel and/or an SD card reader that will be a big mistake.
Please let's stop comparing this to the tablet PC. Those were resounding failures for several reasons. Ergonomics, software, battery life, size, weight, price. Did any of these have go-anywhere internet access built in? Multitouch? Let's stop declaring a product a failure until it's tested on the market no matter who makes it. How many pundits continue to get it dead wrong on Apple year after year?
And please explain to me how a device like a Kindle gets positive reviews at it's price point and people start dumping on the iPad at it's debut and it's a much more capable device? Makes no sense to me.

rr0de74@live.com seriously the only reason you're here is to bash Paul, lets see your blog.... quit being a whiny baby, really.... comparing the number of iPads going to be sold to the numbers of his book is a low blow and basically childish.

"I'm sorry I just don't see this device taking the place of a net book."
It depends on how you look at it. The people I know that own a netbook, do 98% of what the iPad does and does better, surf, email, photos etc.
Would you rather read a book on a netbook or iPad?

Kindle won people over because Amazon created a device that was the first of it's kind. Now since there is more competition in the eBook market it's considered expensive. I had high expectations for Apples take on this and am let down. They had time to see what the market wants and do not deliver. It's not over yet, this is just the first unveiling but honestly i was hoping to be a little more impressed. To each his own i guess, and i really wanted this to be something revolutionary but honestly it's not. iPhone was revolutionary and Paul with his Windows bias didn't see that. This is just a bigger iPhone.

"Kindle DX $489 vs iPad 16gig $499. Which does more? Which can hold more? Which does iPaul own."
Which has an e-ink screen suited for reading and services that niche well? And the free 3G for doing what it is designed to do? And who buys the DX?
chuck, very well thought out response.
Price is good for the base model, but from a video consumption perspective, not so great. So much for the dual cameras and OLED screen I heard Calcanis talk about just today. Why no standardized micro-USB cord? AT&T? No thank you.
It will be interesting to see how this will sell. I can't say whether it will or not.

Interesting... When the Zune launch the Win Fans all rushed out and said "Lets give it time and see where it goes". Fair enough. I did give the Zune the benefit of the doubt. Where did it go? No where.
So now a product that just got announced is dead because Paul says so? I'll wait to see what happens but after all the iPhone was supposed to be a failure...
So the question does it succeed like the iPhone or fail like the Zune. My money is on "like the iPhone".

OK, four comments.
First, Paul's remarks are just absurd. He deems the product a "dud" before the demonstration is even over and before he gets his hand on one. For someone who's supposed to be a pundit, he has zero foresight and zero credibility. It's probably more true that he writes this kind of stuff as link-bait and although that's probably smart, I can't respect him (or others) who game the system that way.
Second, the comments here were pretty much what I expected. They are so extreme pro and con. I try to filter through them to get some actual insights, but it's difficult with all the posturing. For me, it's a shame. I'm looking of analysis and insights and instead it's 90% (maybe 99%) insults and chest thumping.
Third, my biggest disappointment was with publishing. I thought a new metaphor might be enabled that would change publishing like iTunes changed music distribution. Looks like the same old same old to me. I don't really get the book store. Wish them lots of luck with it, but I don't really see it doing that well.
Fourth, When I sit back and think about the pricing, I think the iPad is going to end up being a very, very successful device. When Windows had the advantage of applications, the number of applications Windows ran were everything and when Apple got the big application advantage it was deemed meaningless because they were all ifart and tip calculators. But the truth is that the App store is a very big deal. And that's why this device will be big too. Right now we're seeing the hardware but the true power of this device will come through when the new apps written specifically for it start to come out.
I was looking for something more and for something different. But for no other reason than the App store, the iPad is going to be a huge success. And if some other aspect, like book sales, etc. catches on, then we'll look back and all say that we knew from the start that Apple had a game changer.

@tayme: "some of you regular iCabalists...what are your thoughts so far?"
It's a good start. A real good start. It's not as souped up as I thought it would be... then again, what can you *really* do these days to impress the pants off people? You can only throw so much hardware and fancy tricks around these days. It's all marketing spin now for both Apple and Microsoft (and Apple has the upper hand here - sorry, when was the last time MS had this kind of positive hype around something that wasn't even official?).
Personally, though I'll wait for iPad 2.0. I like the idea, I like the presentation and I *really* like the pay as you go 3G pricing scheme (and the fact you do not have to have 3G if you don't want it).
That paint program they demoed was pretty awesome. I also like the fact that the OS, which we all know is a ramped up iPhone OS, was designed, from the ground up, for touch. It's not an existing OS with touch slapped onto it.
All in all a great take on the tablet computer. I'll wait a year until all the kinks are worked out and then I'll consider one. To be honest, I'd rather take this out with me than my MBP.
As well, having a full, working demo was the best part of this whole thing. People can crow all they want about about the HP Slate and the like, but what did Ballmer show off at CES that was drool worthy? Twilight? A vague release date of "sometime in the second half of 2010"?
Sorry folks, love 'em or hate 'em, Apple has pazazz. It may only be a boring old tablet but they know how to market these things and now everyone will want one.
And five bux says in two years Paul will wonder how he ever lived without one :)

@brichter45 seriously Paul writing a iDud article before the launch event is even 50% over and you are calling me childish?
Why is Paul even covering it? The problem for Paul is that his past work is easy to find and his latest comments can easily be compared. In doing so its easy to see him for what he is, a shill.
Perfect example was his comments a few weeks ago about Apple (sigh Apple again) having a bad quarter and Mac sales declining yet on Monday he was proved wrong, very wrong.
The Kindle/iPad and one of them being a "high priced, unnecessary trinket" and the other not is another perfect example.
Paul is officially a joke. I am done with his articles in Windows mag, his site and his podcast, well maybe 1 more podcast just to hear him moan on about Apple one more time for a good laugh.

Ocean Said:Gizmodo said: an iWork-like app was all that was missing from the iPhone in order to allow businesspeople to “work from the road” and leave their computers at home.
Riiiight. Because all kinds of businesses use iWork or even think that round tripping between current versions of Office and iWork is a good idea.

The Kindle does have 3G access. Too bad it's only for downloading content and not general purpose Internet. Is it really that difficult to download an eBook on your home computer and sync another brand eReader? Is the killer app of the Kindle really it's 3G access? $9.99 for an eBook? I can get a soft back for less and it takes more resources to produce! $5.99 for newspapers? Enough news sites are free anyway why pay on a Kindle? If Apple (or any other established hardware vendor ) had released the Kindle they would have been killed in the tech media. A $400+ device that does basically ONE thing. Where else in the tech sector do we give any other company such a pass?

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